Finished Preliminary Task

This is our preliminary task for AS Media Studies. We were asked to make a short sequence of shots including a matched cut and a demonstration of the 180 degree rule. It had to include somebody walking through a door and people sitting opposite each other having a brief conversation. The close up shots of the hand reaching for the handle and the bottom of the door opening were inspired by our research on Hitchcock.

Production Company Logo Research

All of the screenshots below are of production company logos, they are usually short animated sequences. My group is going to make its own production company logo therefore I have been looking into what other production companies use. Each of the production company logos are unique and famously stand out from each other. The meanings of these logos all have something to do with adventure or escapism. My personal favourite out of all of these logos is 'Bad Robot' because of the little robot character and his distinctive voice is memorable, although it may not be the most famous out of the selection below it is the one that stands out for me.

CEMS Analysis "The Usual Suspects"

The clip opens with a tracking, long shot of light on water, sets the scene of a harbour at night. Dim light shining on the water which sets a fear of the unknown because you cannot see anything other than strips of spaced out light reflecting. The text is in the same subdued palette as the dim light reflecting off the water.

The music is mysterious, slow and solemn classical violin, causing a serious atmosphere. The lights on the water fade away and so does the music.

When fully faded to black the screen is then lit up by an extreme close-up of the lighting of a book of matches. The lighting of the matches causes fire which represents an element of danger. As soon as the music stops there is digetic sound, for example, matches being lit. Digetic sound makes the audience feel as if they are part of the scene. The reason for this is that they get to hear the sounds that the character hears. 

Cut to a close-up of a man’s mid-section whilst holding the lit matches. Then the camera tilts up and reveals the mans face. The man is Gabriel Byrne and the audience know he is a main character because his name appears second in the title sequence. The digetic sound is lighting a cigarette and dock bells. The mise-en-scene includes ropes and fire burning in the background. This, combined with the dock bells and earlier tracking shot across water leads the audience to conclude that he is on a boat. This assembles a setting of a harbour. 

Cuts to a medium shot of barrels leaking petrol from bullet holes, this gives the impression that their has been shooting leading the audience to think there has been an act of crime or violence not too long ago. Then the camera tilts down to show there is more than one bullet hole and also that the petrol is leaking on to the floor. The sound of petrol running onto the floor creates tension because it has a correlation with the fire which creates a sense of danger.

The film then cuts to a long shot of the man still holding the lit matchbook. He drops the lit matchbook onto a line of petrol which ignites instantly. The audience instinctively knows that the trail will lead to an explosion. This would increase the audiences level of tension. 

A high-angle, medium shot shows the audience that the fire trail is spreading. 

Next the camera is placed on the ground giving a medium shot with the fire trail spreading right to left across the screen in the foreground. In the background there is a dead man lying on his side with his eyes open and covered in blood. The audience are mirroring the dead guy’s point of view, this affects the audience by making them feel like part of the action. The action continues with the digetic sound of burning petrol.

Cut to a close up of the line of fire spreading and the camera tilts down to follow the action. Something liquid pours from out of shot onto the fire, stopping the trail. This allows the audience to believe that there will be no imminent explosion. 

The camera cuts to the same action from a different angle. This shot is a medium shot still showing the fire trail ending plus the legs of a dead body. The camera tilts upwards to reveal the source of the liquid. The new character is introduced and the audience then knows that he put out the fire by urinating onto it. The shot doesn’t show his face because the camera doesn’t tilt up enough. The camera is in a low angle looking up from the deck at this second man. This makes the audience feel vulnerable due to his position of superiority above them, this makes the character seem powerful. This second man is wearing a long black overcoat which tell the audience that he is trying to cover himself up. As soon as the second man comes into the shot the music starts playing again. By the music restarting this tells the audience that the character has an emotional significance for them because music sets the mood in films.

The editing in this opening is slow and mainly involves cuts except for the ending of the title sequence which fades away from the dim light on the water to black. 

What clues does the opening sequence give the audience about the rest of the storyline?


The second man is shown in a long black overcoat which conceals lots of his body and the camera movements don't display his face. This suggests to the audience that the storyline will be about finding out who this character is. We also know from the bullet holes in the barrels and the dead man on the deck that it is going to be a crime/action driven narrative.  


This is a trailer for 'The Usual Suspects'

My Review of the Film

I believe that this film is good because it keeps you guessing throughout. It has shocking twists and a surprising ending - who is Keyser Soze? It displayed a range of characters (Keaton, Verbal, McManus, Fenster and Hockney) and each of them have big yet completely different personalities. Empire magazine said "This is that infrequent treat: a film that borders on genius" (The Empire 5 Star 500, XMAS 2010).  

What makes a thriller character?

There are lots of different types of thriller character for example shy and insecure or strong and independent. .

 

In this picture of the film the usual suspects, we see a collection of different characters all with there own unique appearances the guy on the far left seems somewhat sinister and looks the most comfortable in the line up thus implying he may be use to this setting.  This may be because he is used to committing crimes. Whereas the posh character second from last on the right side seems to be a lot more anxious but has quite a sinister pose, this could imply that although he feels out of place in this environment he may still have committed some kind of sinister act.

As a group we compiled our own thoughts and feelings on what makes a typical thriller protagonist, here is what we came up with:

THRILLER CHARACTER'S NAME: Stewart Dread

Positive side to him/her

• Strong, confident, decision maker
• Proud
• Calm until pushed
• Seems level headed

Negative side to him/her

• They may not be who they seem on the outside 
• Will stop at nothing to get away from his fate (ruthless)
• Repeats a certain line famous quote or song.
• Changes from happy to angry and dangerous very quickly
• Murder may not phase him

'IMDB' Thriller genre research

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is a great resource, you can access lots of important information on any desired film. This includes movie showtimes, movie news, trailers, box office statistics, editorials and profiles for films. The profiles detail the year of release, the cast, the director, budget, box offfice, industry rating, synopsis and user rating. It also allows you to access a list of the 'Top Rated Films' for each genre. I found this very useful because I am researching the top 10 thriller films and intend to watch them in my spare time. This will enable me to see what the best examples of thrillers are and to take notes on how they are effective. I have mostly seen recent films such as 'Dream House', however using IMDB has allowed me to discover the older, more classic films that were released in the eighties, nineties and early noughties. Now I will have a broader exposure to good products compared to somebody who has only seen new films.

Below is a series of screenshots explaining how you get to the list of 'Top Rated Films' for thrillers as described above.

 

In the screenshot below the list of 'Top Rated' thrillers is displayed on the right of the screen.

Here is the list of 'Top Rated' thrillers on IMDB: 1-5...

...6-10



Font analysis

I have been doing some research for my production and have been weighing out the pros and cons of each font. We need to a find a suitable font that would integrate with our production's music, action and mood.

My first font displays quite bold writing although it has quite rugged sharp edges. It looks like it could be used to display a quite dark creepy film that exhibits mystery and it also has a magical side to it. It could be used in a psychological thriller although it may not fit into other thrillers such as legal thrillers. The fact that the font name is 'Dark Crystal' implies that the createor of the font felt this way about it aswell.








My second font may be used in a murder mystery based thriller film. It is quite formal writing which makes me think of an intellegent, upper class person, this is likelly to be an intelectual killer rather than an average gangster such as 'Hannibal the Cannibal' from 'The Silence of The Lambs'. However, it is faded and washed and it has patches all over the writing giving the effect that it is not written in ink but perhaps in blood. In the film 'Se7en' the killer writes one of the seven deadly sins in blood on the floor - 'GREED'. This means that the audience strain to read it because its patchy, this makes them concentrate more on the film.







Lastly my final font is very stretched, clear and easy to read. It has a quite threatening side to it because it is futuristic and films set in the future usually involve some kind of advanced technology and that introduces danger. An example of this is 'I, Robot' in which robots try to take over the world. So this font would be appropriate in either a technological thriller or a sci-fi thriler such as 'Inception' or 'Moon'.   

Story Ideas

Storyline 1

Beginning
At the start there is a motorbike chase which turns into a chase on foot, then one of the three criminals gets caught and taken in to be questioned. They realise they have got the wrong man and interrogate him for information. He gives them some information and they send their best policemen and also a government spy to search for the missing briefcase.

Middle
Police come together and create a plan and then the main character who is a government spy gets introduced. It shows situations when they get close to capturing him but he always gets away at the last moment.

Ending
Bad guy gets caught and dramatically killed but when they think they have the right man and the briefcase recovered. They were wrong.

Storyline 2


Beginning
There is a close up of the dice falling to the board and as they hit the board a load bass drum sounds. and then recurring bass sound as they hit again. He slowly moves the piece forward. As it stops he slowly whispers the words to himself. "Be happy-Act as genuine and as positive as you can."

Middle
Day 2- be considerate - take into account how every one feels.
Day3 next day "get angry"

Ending
Film ends as the board is destroyed.
Turns out that he can only live while the board is in tact the board is apart of him more than he thinks.

Storyline 3

In this film the two escaped men are presented, at first, as escaped criminals however we later realise that the reason they re running is because they have a time altering machine which they helped create and the government want it back. It later conspires that these two escaped men have been involved in the making of the time manipulation device.